Forget Writing Articles – Write These Instead…

This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, visit the disclosure page.

“I can’t write articles.”

Or so the complaint goes. For some people, writing articles to promote affiliate programs can be the hardest thing for them to do.

So hard that they quit before even attempting to write anything.

And if you’re going to be doing any affiliate marketing, you would know that it’s impossible to avoid writing. As a matter of fact, in any business whether online or offline, you’ll need to write.

My advice?

Forget writing articles. It doesn’t mean that you can’t write because chances are that you’re doing it every day without even realizing.

All you need to do is to come up with content.

And this isn’t college either. No one is going to grade you but at least make sure that you adhere to basic grammar rules and spelling.

5 Simple Ways to Make Article Writing Easier

So like I said, forget writing articles and write these instead.

1. An email to a friend – pretend that your friend just emailed you asking you about the product you’re trying to promote. What would you tell her?

2. A blog comment – Do you comment on blogs? Do you have opinions after reading articles on the web? Write your thoughts. Some comments I read are just as long as articles and most comments can also be extended.

3. Facebook comment – Most likely you have a Facebook profile. And I’m sure you’ve either wrote a post or commented on someone’s wall. Or someone commented on your wall. Well, just imagine you’re replying to a friend’s comment on your wall.

4. A forum post – Again, I read about 5 to 6 paragraphs from someone complaining that they can’t write on forums. And in the most conversational tone with very few spelling and grammar mistakes.

5. A diary entry – Keep a diary? You can write from the perspective of a diary entry and make your articles even more interesting. “I tried that new widget today…”

Seriously, writing an article isn’t any different from the other types of writing you do every day.

Even Easier Ways…

Here are two ways you can make the process even easier.

1. Record audio – All smartphones (and even some regular cell phones) have an audio recorder you can talk into. You can record your thoughts, which may be easier to organize this way, then transcribe them later turning it into an article.

There are even free and paid speech-to-text apps that will transcribe whatever you say so you would not even have to write anything if you don’t want to. One such app is available within your Google Account and you can learn about it here.

2. Do Video – Making a video is another easy option. You can just turn on your web cam and record yourself. Or use your smartphone camera.

This is great content creation that you can upload to Youtube then embed on your site. And you can also turn it into an article by transcribing the audio just like with the smartphone audio recorder example above.

You probably already do this on Facebook and Instagram for your friends so it shouldn’t be any different if you apply this same activity to your online business.

Don’t let the feeling of not being able to write an article stop you from doing affiliate marketing. Instead, forget writing articles and use these suggestions to produce content that earns you money.

Share this:

Reader Interactions

Comments

thanks for the interesting ideas about alternative methods to content creation. Article writing for me is not difficult but it’s always the motivation and procrastination that get in the way.

It takes me 2 days to write a 1200 – 1500 word article, but i think i will follow your advice and start creating videos aswell. I think we are definitely heading that way when it comes to affiliate marketing.

Incredible, succinct piece on content creation. I, too, even as a professional writer, was nervous to write my own content for my upcoming home-decor niche blog. I have thoughts, opinions, and a deep passion for home decor, but I am no expert by any means. Nervous that I wouldn’t express myself correctly, I hired a content writer on Fiverr. The content was good, but ironically I found it to be too formal. Like you said, I wanted it to be in the tone of a friend speaking to a friend, not some college admission essay where we try to use the biggest words we can understand and sound super smart and impressive. I’m in the process of re-writing all the content I purchased now, to reflect my own tone, and to make it more direct and personable. Funny, because all-in-all, I took the long way to discover the exact principles you mentioned in this piece here today. A very profound lesson and great read!

I’m glad that you found out, even though you took the hard way, that content creation is a simple as just expressing your ideas the way you would speak to a friend. Simple and to the point. Its not a college essay that you’re trying to get graded.

You’re welcome. To be honest, this article itself was pretty much an answer to a question someone asked on a forum about how much they hate writing articles. I just turned a big comment/forum response into an article.

You have come up with some great ideas here. As an affiliate marketer I know that writing articles is sometimes incredibly difficult – and its easy to put off. But this list really provides some practical alternatives to sitting down in front of a blank screen.
I had no idea about the Google talk to type option – I thank you for bringing that to my attention!!

This is so true. I love how you have provided some practical ways to write without having to write. And that most people would not realise they are communicating everyday and writing in some form without realising it.

This opens up the door to building an affiliate marketing business and getting past that having to write hurdle. Thank you again!

You’re right. I think writing is one of the biggest challenges a lot of people face when they start out with affiliate marketing. Hopefully, they’ll see writing in a different light after reading this article.

To the point and very well said.
The problem that most of us have, comes from our school days.
We spend years being brain-washed and unlearning.
We are constantly being told that we cannot do this, that, and the other thing because we are not qualified.

Your post describes this very well.
I read these long comments as well, from people who tell me they cannot produce content, and yet these very comments are often 400 or 500 words long.

Well said Paul. Are the questions at the end for me or are they for the readers to think about when they’re questioning themselves?

Personally, I really love writing content and do not see it as work. I have opinions on many things and I write to get them out.

One thing that made it easy for me in the beginning, when I was trying to come to terms with the idea that producing content shouldn’t be work is when I developed a technique called the Grandma Method. I would imagine my grandmother, who I love and care about dearly, asking me about these topics, like “how do I write content if I hate writing” or “what do you think about this product, should I try it” and what I would tell her if she was sitting right next to me.

In the marketing world they call this developing a persona but I didn’t know that at the time. You focus on what you would tell your ideal customer or reader as if you were having a face to face conversation.

It’s really simple to come up with content as I’ve shown here in this article but too many people over-complicate stuff and doubt themselves. Just write what you would tell them. Format it later if you have to.

Q1. Do you write a daily diary?
A1. I actually don’t but I do try to write something daily. I have a blog that is not really for marketing purposes that I use to just write stuff I have opinions about.

Q2. What is your favorite content producing tool?
A2. I’d have to say the Google Search Bar. Or maybe Trello. I use Trello to record a steady flow of content ideas, to organize my content outlines and to save links related to content that I’m producing/researching.

Q3. Did you enjoy writing in school?
A3. I loved to write. English was my favorite class and I have no idea how I didn’t become an author. I always had random notebooks where I just wrote the most random stuff. I guess it’s a blessing to have a career where writing is one of the main tasks.

The hardest part of my blog is writing content. Not that I don’t have what to write, but more because I don’t actually enjoy the writing process. I love your tips on how to make it easier, I’m going to try pretending to write to a friend. It’ll help me make my blog posts more personal I think!

I think we all get writer’s block, and even when I don’t it still seems to take me so long to get an article out there which plays on my mind all the time.
I like your idea of recording your thoughts on a phone, and another option is simply to have a notebook and write any and every idea as they come your way during the waking hours. I read some of the other comments and realised I am not Robinson Crusoe. In other words, I am not alone
Thanks for your ideas and reminders
Paul